Open Banking fraud rates remain below industry average

Open Banking payment fraud continues to remain significantly lower than across the wider UK payments industry, despite increasingly sophisticated scam techniques and a gradual rise in overall fraud volumes, according to the inaugural Open Banking Payments & Fraud Monitor published by Open Banking Limited (OBL).

Open Banking fraud rates remain below industry average

The new biannual report provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of fraud across the UK’s Open Banking ecosystem, drawing on data from account providers representing more than 60% of Open Banking payment volumes. The findings suggest that while fraudsters are evolving their tactics, Open Banking payment journeys continue to demonstrate strong resilience.

Open Banking Continues to Outperform Industry Benchmarks

The report found that during 2025, approximately one in every 6,000 Open Banking payments was identified as fraudulent. By comparison, the wider UK payments industry recorded around one fraudulent transaction in every 2,500 payments, indicating substantially lower fraud rates within Open Banking.

As adoption of account-to-account payments continues to accelerate across retail and business use cases, maintaining lower fraud levels will be viewed as an important indicator of the maturity and security of the Open Banking ecosystem.

Nevertheless, overall fraud volumes have begun to increase again. Fraud reached 0.024% of Open Banking payments during the first quarter of 2026, moving back towards more typical historical levels following an unusually low period recorded during the first quarter of 2025.

Authorised Push Payment Fraud Remains the Primary Threat

The report highlights that Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud continues to account for more than two-thirds of all Open Banking fraud cases, mirroring trends across the broader UK payments landscape.

Criminals are increasingly relying on sophisticated social engineering techniques designed to persuade customers to authorise payments themselves. Investment scams remain one of the largest APP fraud categories by value, while banks are also reporting growing volumes of impersonation scams, fake refund fraud and increasingly complex fraud journeys that blur the distinction between authorised and unauthorised transactions.

These evolving attack methods demonstrate that fraud prevention is becoming less about technology alone and more about understanding customer behaviour and identifying suspicious payment patterns before funds leave an account.

Collaboration Remains Central to Fraud Prevention

Open Banking Limited argues that maintaining low fraud rates will require continued cooperation across the payments industry.

The report highlights the growing importance of data sharing between payment providers alongside tools such as Transaction Risk Indicators (TRIs), which enable firms to assess payment risk more effectively before authorisation. As fraudsters increasingly operate across multiple institutions and payment channels, collaborative intelligence is becoming an essential element of fraud prevention.

Commenting on the findings, Henk Van Hulle, Chief Executive Officer of Open Banking Limited, said that while Open Banking continues to compare favourably with wider industry benchmarks, fraud is evolving rapidly and demands constant vigilance.

The Open Banking Payments & Fraud Monitor builds on OBL’s earlier Financial Crime in Open Banking Journeys reports and will now be published twice each year. As Open Banking adoption continues to expand across consumer payments, ecommerce and account-to-account transactions, the report is expected to become an increasingly important benchmark for measuring fraud performance, identifying emerging threats and supporting industry-wide efforts to strengthen trust in the UK’s rapidly evolving payments ecosystem.